The famous female blacksmith from Stroganovka was convicted of bribing a doctor: she forged a sick leave

She herself considers the verdict the result of intrigue

For a sick leave purchased for 16 thousand rubles, the court sentenced the President of the Union of Blacksmiths of Russia, the head of the Department of Artistic Metal at the Stroganov Russian State Academy of Art and Industry, Maria Kruglova, to three years of suspended imprisonment. Themis regarded her actions as giving a bribe to the doctor; the scientist herself did not admit guilt.

The criminal prosecution against Maria Kruglova caused a stir in the academic community. Moreover, dozens of students testified as defense witnesses, and several of them spoke during the trial. The story itself, which formed the basis of the criminal case, happened in January 2022. According to the investigation, the head of the department of the Russian State Art and Industrial University named after S. G. Stroganov asked her nurse friend to issue a certificate of incapacity for 30 days at the Orekhovo-Zuevskaya hospital, where she worked. And for this I transferred 16 thousand rubles to her bank card. The nurse, in turn, took them to the doctor, who made an electronic “sick leave” with a diagnosis of HIV (which is very strange – Kruglova never had HIV) and sent them to Stroganovka. The scientist explained that she had known the nurse for a long time; she helped her with caring for her 91-year-old sick mother, and she transferred money to buy medicines. In addition, at the time she was given sick leave, she was at home diagnosed with coronavirus. It is curious that the doctor was convicted a year ago in another case, and was a witness in the Kruglova case.

In general, there are very few cases of teachers being punished for fictitious sick leave by criminal prosecution, especially if it is classified as a “bribe.” By the way, a month before the story with the sick leave, Kruglova contacted the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the prosecutor’s office, where she asked to sort out the situation in Stroganovka. In the statement, she drew attention to the dismissal of a number of teachers, including herself. Students who came to the trial said that they took her dismissal negatively and even wrote letters to the President of the Russian Federation. They also asked her to participate in the elections for the post of rector, which took place in 2023 (in the end, Kruglov was not allowed to participate in them due to criminal prosecution).

The Orekhovo-Zuevsky City Court did not consider all these arguments convincing and found Kruglov guilty. The woman intends to appeal.